BROOKINGS – It wasn’t easy, but the South Dakota State men’s basketball team came away with its fifth-straight win overall and 19th-straight win at Frost Arena after defeating North Dakota 87-66.
The Jacks (13-7, 5-1) got off to a slow start as they made just two of their first 15 shot attempts. However, SDSU only trailed 18-14 after that slow start and proceeded to go on a 19-0 run to take a 33-18 lead with 4:42 left in the first half.
“I thought we did a good job of playing with a purpose. We didn’t do a whole lot different [during the run], but the ball just seemed to go in,” SDSU head coach Eric Henderson said.
SDSU was up 41-25 at halftime, but the Fighting Hawks would fight back. UND went on a 12-4 run to start the second half and cut the lead down to six with 13 minutes left. That’s when SDSU big man Douglas Wilson, who led the Jacks with 22 points, went down with a knee injury.
Sophomore forward Alou Dillon came into the game as a replacement for Wilson and stepped up. He had 12 points on 6-7 shooting and had three rebounds. Sophomore Matt Mims also came off the bench and stepped up as well. He had 14 points and was 4-5 from three.
“How about [Dillon and Mims],” Henderson said. “Really proud of those two guys for sure because they certainly haven’t been in the easiest position or easiest role throughout the season. For those two young men to step up the way they did in the second half, I’m really proud of them.”
Wilson didn’t play the rest of the second half and Henderson said he did not know the extent of the injury.
“[Wilson] is a little sore. It’s hard to say, we’ll know a lot more tomorrow. It just takes a little time to know those things. I don’t know if he’ll miss any games, I don’t know if he’ll miss a game, I really have no idea,” Henderson said.
Wilson did not look too happy when he was sitting on the bench after the injury, but Henderson said to not look into that too much because he’s never had a serious injury. If Wilson is to miss an extended period of time, the Jacks aren’t worried about who is going to have to replace him.
“This whole team is talented. It’s not just a one man team. Just like Alou said ‘next man up.’ We have weapons all over. Next man up,” Mims said.
The Jacks have already been without senior point guard Brandon Key for all of Summit League play. Key went down with a leg injury in the non-conference finale against Idaho on Dec. 21st and Henderson said there is a chance Key could make his return this weekend.
“Brandon has been able to practice the last couple days and started to do some things. So he’s starting to feel more and more comfortable and his leg is getting a bit stronger too. … We’re certainly not going to put him in a position that would not be good for anyone. There’s a chance,” Henderson said.
Noah Friedel had 16 points and six rebounds for SDSU. Alex Arians had eight points and five rebounds and David Wingett had seven points and five rebounds. North Dakota (8-11, 2-3) was led by Marlon Stewart who had 17 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Kienan Walter had 15 points and De’Sean Allen-Eikens had 14. Rebraca Filip had nine points and 13 rebounds.
Up next, the Jacks will travel South to Vermillion to take on South Dakota. The Coyotes are 11-8 overall and 2-3 in the Summit League and the Jacks have won the last four games against USD.
“We’re excited. [USD] is certainly a talented team and Coach [Todd Lee] does and tremendous job and they have older guys. Their guys have experienced this rivalry several times and they know how heated it can be and how much energy there is going to be in the gym. We’ve only had a couple guys kind of experience that. … We’re all pretty excited. We still have to be us and we still have to play together. I have no doubt we’ll go in there and play hard and compete like crazy,” Henderson said.
Tipoff between the Jacks and Coyotes is 3:30 p.m. on Sunday.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 87, NORTH DAKOTA 66
North Dakota (8-11, 2-3)
Marlon Stewart 5-17 7-8 17, Kienan Walter 6-13 1-1 15, De’Sean Allen-Eikens 4-11 6-7 14, Filip Rebraca 4-5 1-2 9, Brady Danielson 1-4 2-2 4, Billy Brown 1-1 0-0 3, Gertautas 1-3 0-2 2, Davids Atelbauers 1-2 0-0 2, Bentiu 0-0 0-0 0, Marko Coudreau 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-56 17-22 66.
South Dakota State (14-7, 5-1)
Douglas Wilson 9-15 4-5 22, Noah Freidel 5-11 5-7 16, Matt Mims 4-5 2-2 14, Alou Dillon 6-7 0-0 12, Alex Arians 1-6 6-6 8, David Wingett 3-11 0-0 7, Matt Dentlinger 2-3 3-4 7, Aaron Fiegen 0-0 1-2 1, Baylor Scheierman 0-2 0-0 0, Owen King 0-0 0-0 0, Beau Brown 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-60 21-26 87.
Halftime – 41-25 SDSU. 3-point field goals – UND 3-16 (Brown 1-1, Walter 2-6, Urbonavicius 0-1, Danielson 0-2, Stewart 0-2, Allen-Eikens 0-4), SDSU 6-18 (Mims 4-5, Freidel 1-3, Wingett 1-8, Arians 0-1, Scheierman 0-1). Rebounds – UND 37 (Rebraca 13), SDSU 33 (Scheierman 7). Assists – UND 5 (Stewart 3), SDSU 10 (Scheierman 4). Steals – UND 3 (Stewart 2), SDSU 5 (Freidel, Wingett 2). Blocks – UND 5 (Walter, Allen-Eikens 2), SDSU 0. Turnovers – UND 12, SDSU 9. Total fouls – UND 23, SDSU 19. Fouled out – UND Ubonavicius. Technical fouls – UND Pual Sather. A – 2,271.
